Power drives: Gocycle and Mercedes SLS AMG Coupe

It’s a jewel of a bicycle – brilliantly designed to fold into a carry bag, and even more brilliantly designed to do a lot of the work for you.

Despite its clean lines and lack of visible cables and wires, the Gocycle has a built-in electrical drive system. This can be controlled by a phone app via Bluetooth, modulating the electrical assistance from a light helping hand (or foot), through to full “electro glide".

This stylish modern take on the folding bike was designed by Richard Thorpe, a former engineer at McLaren (that’s the racing car company, not the pram maker).

It’s not for the serious cyclist, of course. It’s for the commuter, or the occasional weekend rider looking for a bit of fun rather than a workout.

SLS AMG SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive
AFR

Or perhaps someone who appreciates clever design and beautiful construction and is prepared to pay a premium for it (the Gocycle costs $4900).

Ingenious features abound, from the simple folding pedals to the quick release, side-mounted wheels, and the electronic display built into the handlebars.

The gears are semi-automatic. Exotic materials keep the weight down, though it is still 16 kilograms (much of that the lithium battery and motor).

The range is said to be 64 kilometres, depending on pedal input. In hilly terrain that figure can tumble dramatically, though we found the Gocycle is still good for about an hour under difficult conditions.

Related Quotes

Company Profile

With 250 watts, the Gocycle is legally classified as a bicycle in most states. It can be used on bike lanes as well as the road.

True, it’s more expensive than some motor scooters. But with the plug-in Gocycle, there’s no registration and you’ll never need go near a fuel station.

The Gocycle’s ride is quite smooth, although the small wheels work against you on bumpy surfaces. Added to which, the handlebars are narrow (to assist with the compact folding), so it’s not a bike for confidently speeding down long hills.

You are better off slowing a little and letting the regenerative brakes top up the battery.

On relatively flat streets, I didn’t feel the bike was that quick until a teenaged son decided to join me on a conventional treadly.

He was pedalling like mad to keep up on hills, while I was having the equivalent of a gentle stroll to the sound of a whirring motor.

That’s where the real money shot for this bike could be: enabling you to do, say, a half-hour commute into the centre of a busy hub, overtaking cars at will but without building up a big sweat and having to shower before starting work.

Wired for the sprints

And the cost? €416,500. That’s the equivalent of $595,986 ex-factory, so it will be vastly dearer here, if it ever makes it.

It develops an almost surreal 552 kW and 1000 Nm, making it not just the fastest production electric road vehicle ever, but also the most powerful AMG model.

And the quietest.

An authenticated lap time for the 20.8 kilometre Nordschleife, or northern loop, of the legendary Nurburgring GP circuit is fast becoming the benchmark for any car claiming high performance.

In July the Benz completed it in a dazzling 7 minutes 56.234 seconds, comfortably eclipsing the electric record set last year by the Audi R8 e-tron (a similar concept that Audi has decided not to put into production, citing the extreme cost).

Zero to 100km/h for the all-wheel drive Benz takes 3.9 seconds, top speed is limited to 250 km/h.

The downside of all this, aside from the stratospheric price, is the range.

Benz claims the SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive is capable of covering 250 kilometres on a single charge. But that’s with gentle driving, somewhat defeating the purpose of owning a 552 kW sports car.

If you want to put in a good time around the Nurburgring, you’ll be plugging it back in after a couple of laps.